1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates, in general, to methods and systems for providing self-service beverages and snacks, and, more particularly, to a self-service dispenser with improved access control providing a variety of methods of limiting use of the dispenser including controlling a number of fills/refills or a number of snacks obtained from the dispenser based on the user's identity.
2. Relevant Background
Self-service beverage dispensers are used in numerous environments to dispense drinks such as fountain sodas, iced tea, lemonade, and juice. For example, customers at fast food restaurants often purchase a drink with their meal and are provided a cup to fill themselves using a self-service beverage dispenser that dispenses a number of soft drinks. Self-service beverage dispensers are desirable in many settings because it is typically inefficient for restaurant workers to fill drink orders or perform other services that can easily be performed by the customer without a significant drop in their satisfaction with the dining experience. Due to these and other benefits, self-service beverage dispensers are used in numerous other environments including movie theaters, amusement and theme parks, buffet or cafeteria-style restaurants, and many more settings.
Unfortunately, misuse of self-service beverage dispensers can be expensive and providers of these dispensers are searching for better ways to control access or use. In many settings, a user is simply provided a cup and is allowed unlimited refills, but this practice is becoming too expensive for some restaurants or other providers. These providers have sometimes raised their prices to try to cover users who get multiple refills, but this does not address the problem with people who do not pay and use other cups to obtain free drinks. In other cases, the market simply will not allow increased prices. Other providers of self-service beverage dispensers attempt to limit use of the dispensers by posting signage that state there are no free refills, but reliance of customers to self-police themselves has met with only limited success and many users continue to fill their cups two or more times per visit without making proper payments or reuse a cup on a next visit with no further payment.
To provide enhanced access control, dispensing systems have been developed that allow the dispenser to identify a cup or glass as being authorized for use with a self-service beverage dispenser. In one such system, a customer purchases an “all-you-can-drink” cup that includes an identifier in the form of a scannable bar code. The beverage dispenser includes a bar code reader or scanner and controls that activate the dispenser to dispense to fill a cup when an authorized cup is properly positioned relative to the beverage dispenser (e.g., swipe your cup, select a flavor of soda, and position the cup for filling). In another dispensing system, access control is provided by placing a passive radio-frequency identification (RFID) tag on the cup, and the self-service beverage dispenser includes an RFID reader that activates or reads the RFID tag and verifies the cup is authorized for using or accessing the beverage dispenser. Such a system may further include write capabilities such that the RFID tag may include stored data indicating a number of refills or uses that have been credited to the cup, and the RFID reader of the dispenser may decrement this count on the RFID tag with each use of the dispenser.
A number of problems arise with the use of an unlimited access or all-you-can-drink cup with self-service beverage dispensers. The user is required to maintain possession of the cup in order to obtain refills, which can be problematic at large entertainment facilities and resorts. For example, a customer may purchase an unlimited access cup at a water or amusement park for use all day. They must maintain possession of the cup throughout their visit to get refills, and, if they lose their cup, their privilege to unlimited access to the dispenser is also lost. In some environments, the customer may even be forced to carry the cup back to their hotel room or other off-site destination and back with them when they re-enter to continue to use the cup. In addition to the inconvenience of carrying a large drink cup around, the customer may also be concerned with sanitation having to clean the cup after use (e.g., before placing it in a purse, bag, or backpack) to avoid dripping soda and before a next use (e.g., to remove sand from the water park and so on).
Hence, there remains a need for methods and systems for better controlling access to self-service dispensers such as those used to dispense soda and other beverages. Preferably, such methods and systems would address problems with continued misuse of self-service beverage dispensers and also the inconveniences associated with an all-you-can-drink cup.